tomgamber wrote:If a stream had both wild and stocked fish and you were casting to a rise...you would not know whether that fish was wild or stocked until you had at least 10 seconds of fight done or possibly even when you got it to hand. As many of you admit, sometimes it hard to tell the difference unless you really look at one.

With that in mind, if your only reason for a stream to be overrated is that the fish are stocked, then the only thing overrated are your expectations.

I do fish for stockies sometimes since most of the streams near home are stocked. But, nothing is more annoying to me than fishing for stocked fish with weenies when there is a hatch of mayflies or caddis being totally ignored by the stockies. Or stocked fish "chasing their tailpipes" as Mo so aptly described in another thread, all clustered in a hole or clustered in random areas based on where they were stocked.

When stocked fish are in the water for a while and begin to act more "normal" they are okay to fish for, and holdovers and grown up fingerlings get honorable mention, but overall I prefer to fish for wild fish for their beauty, fight and more natural behavior. If a stream relies on the white fleet, it is not a top-rated stream in my book, at least not in PA, where we are blessed so many spectacular wild trout streams.

Those that only fish for stocked trout don’t really know what they are missing. It’s like going to Epcot Center in Orlando, visiting “Italy” or any other "country" and believing they’ve seen and experienced the real thing!

There was a study done over ten years I believe on the Madison River in Montana that proved that stocking even six and eight inchers caused a drop in stream bred trout.That was with rainbows that are less dominate-disrupting even adult browns.They stopped stocking and cut limits and got a Blue Ribbon stream,not a use to be.However you have to satisfy the just want fish crowd,that pay for the right. I don't envy those caught in the middle-Mike I believe is one-tough job.I had to laugh at your Disney thing Afish-amazes me how people would rather go there than the Mountains-but like my sister-in-law said when I took her for a drive in the country[beautiful national forest]and asked her why she was reading a book``nothing to see but trees,no houses,stores or people".

Those that only fish for stocked trout don’t really know what they are missing. It’s like going to Epcot Center in Orlando, visiting “Italy” or any other "country" and believing they’ve seen and experienced the real thing!

That right there is an great analogy. As some would figure, I couldn't agree more.

#1 Spruce Creek- For no other reason than it is an overstocked joke. With all the private water and pay-to-fish stretches it's just too phony IMO. Yeah, the trout are big and healthy but there is no challenge, spook or miss one pig and all you need to do is walk a couple feet and find another. The public section is OK, but I can't get excited about a few hundred yeards of mostly shallow, braided stream. (Even though it is loaded with little wild trout).

#2 Yellow Breeches - I have no reason to drive all day and pass by Spring, Penns, etc. to got to something I already have within an hour of home. I have special regulations stocked trout on 5 streams in my local area so YB just doesn't excite me.

#3 Cool Spring Creek - I just don't get it. Compared to nearby Neshannock, Oil, Slippery Rock, and Little Sandy, this creek sucks. The DHALO is undewhelming even with significant work done by the local TU. Just mostly shallow crummy water except for a few nice pools. Lots of mud and silt. The area is practically a swamp so you can get torn up by the bugs once the weather is warm.

pete, we all get and most of us even know what say to be a fact. Stocking over wild fish is bad. We've debated this long and hard many times. This is not what we are talking about though.

WT2 basically has the right idea. If you don't show up to a stream with misconceptions, you won't be let down.

The conditions on any particular day will affect your perception of the stream, no? Low or high water, bad weather, time of year...if its stocked, whether its been stocked since last fall or even spring...those all affect how it fishes and what your day might be like. If you find a stream over rated, you are probably not going to visit it much. If you don't visit it much you'll never learn what you need to to be successful on that stream.

Lack of hatches, lack of fish and lack of good holding area to target are really the only things you judge the stream itself on. I know...someone will come up with a couple more and I'll say "ok yeah, that too..." But unless the word on the street is that these are all gonna be wild fish and that turns out to be untrue, the stream is, in at least that part, is exactly as expected.

Yellow Breeches would make the list. Its strength is length, its just so long and there's so much water. But by and large its just a decent stocked trout stream.

My thoughts exactly. As far as the Ausible River in NY goes. I fished it a few years back and am actually going up there again in July. I had a blast and caught several wild browns and missed a nice one that was over 15" that came off my line after a good 2 min fight in high fast water.

Also the lower Tully, as good as it is and as much fish as I catch there is like the Breeches. Just a well stocked fishery.

Quote:

There is something about fishing water that trout can actually LIVE in that does it for me.

Words to live by.

Posted on: 2009/4/9 12:09

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I can spell Leprechaun. Some idiots can't and have to practice.I PREFER BROOK TROUT so SMB!

PennKev wrote:#1 Spruce Creek- For no other reason than it is an overstocked joke. With all the private water and pay-to-fish stretches it's just too phony IMO. Yeah, the trout are big and healthy but there is no challenge, spook or miss one pig and all you need to do is walk a couple feet and find another. The public section is OK, but I can't get excited about a few hundred yeards of mostly shallow, braided stream. (Even though it is loaded with little wild trout).

#2 Yellow Breeches - I have no reason to drive all day and pass by Spring, Penns, etc. to got to something I already have within an hour of home. I have special regulations stocked trout on 5 streams in my local area so YB just doesn't excite me.

#3 Cool Spring Creek - I just don't get it. Compared to nearby Neshannock, Oil, Slippery Rock, and Little Sandy, this creek sucks. The DHALO is undewhelming even with significant work done by the local TU. Just mostly shallow crummy water except for a few nice pools. Lots of mud and silt. The area is practically a swamp so you can get torn up by the bugs once the weather is warm.

Kev

I don't think that makes any of these creeks overrated...they are exactly what everyone I talk to says they are.

Spruce: is that supposed to be a revelation...it is exactly as you describe it and I have never heard anyone say different.

YB: I haven't fished that enough to be fair. Its more of a turnpike break for me. But I can catch fish in the short hour or so I get to try...

Cool Spring..sorry never heard of it..I guess that means its definitely overrated.

I'm sure there are days when you say everything is perfect and you still don't catch fish. I know why some of you would blame the stream but that's another story.

It would seem to me that what one person looks for/expects (no crowds, beautiful scenery, willing/big fish, good hatches, ect..) from a given stream can differ greatly from what another might expect, so this is why I say the word "overrated" is relative. JMHO

Also the lower Tully, as good as it is and as much fish as I catch there is like the Breeches. Just a well stocked fishery.

Maybe spector can help me out...ok, what, Other than a "well stocked fishery" is the Tulley supposed to be that so many find it overrated?...and keep in mind, I fly fished the Tully so little when I lived there I really have no opinion one way or another.

I don't know. What do you want it to be? Keep in mind, I'm talking about the lower end.

There is a lot of talk about it being a great trout fishery destination like the Breeches. It an OK trout fishery like the Breeches. The dam at Blue Marsh has destroyed the lower end. It been said on here many times about the lack of structure. The vegetation is all but gone in the lower end.

The upper end is so much better. Wild and stocked fish, hatches everywhere. Lots of vegetation and structure.

Of course, this thread was about what streams do you think are overrated. Which is all based on ones personal opinions. That is just what it is, my opinion on it. Others may differ.

Posted on: 2009/4/9 12:37

_________________
I can spell Leprechaun. Some idiots can't and have to practice.I PREFER BROOK TROUT so SMB!

Huh, I had never heard the Tully to be a destination. The point is that if someone tells me its a well stocked fishery and that's what I find...I would not call it overrated. Now after the last few years of hearing about the upper end, as I have on here, and fished it and found it to be much the same as the lower end I would be disappointed and feel it overrated. But since there are really no real "ratings" to go by its all really kind of silly isn't it?

I agree that the image of the tully is greater than the stream itself. Others may have heard differently, but I've heard the tully classified as one of the best (if not THE best) stream in this part of the state.

That's overrated in my eyes. I have fished that stream uncountable times. I've been skunked on it, and I've had 25+ fish days. It is overrated in general, IMO.

Oddly enough, it's not very overrated on this message board. People seem to accurately appraise it. It's a very valuable stream, but it's not great.

jayL wrote:I agree that the image of the tully is greater than the stream itself. Others may have heard differently, but I've heard the tully classified as one of the best (if not THE best) stream in this part of the state.

Wow, I guess my problem is get too much information from you guys and not enough whoever said that... Never would have gotten "one of the best" from listening to you guys.

jayL wrote:I agree that the image of the tully is greater than the stream itself. Others may have heard differently, but I've heard the tully classified as one of the best (if not THE best) stream in this part of the state.

Wow, I guess my problem is get too much information from you guys and not enough whoever said that... Never would have gotten "one of the best" from listening to you guys.

Yeah, the commentary on here is dead accurate. I've heard the tully being overrated in fly shops, and by other fishermen a few times. I'd expect it from guides, but other fishermen really seem to have taken the bait.